Monday, November 28, 2011

Doris Day, America's sweetheart of the '50s and '60s, beguiled audiences with her on-screen romances opposite top Hollywood leading men Cary Grant, Rock Hudson and Jack Lemmon. She adored and misses them all, says the 88-year-old Day. But her deepest yearning is reserved for her late son Terry Melcher, a record producer whose touch and voice are part of Day's first album in nearly two decades.

"Oh, I wish he could be here and be a part of it. I would just love that. But it didn't work out that way," Day said, her voice subdued. It's a voice rarely heard since she withdrew from Hollywood in the early 1980s to the haven she made for herself in the Northern California town of Carmel, where Clint Eastwood was once mayor.

"My Heart," set for a Dec. 2 U.S. release, has induced Day to edge back to public attention. The CD includes 13 previously unreleased tracks recorded over a 40-year span, including covers of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and a handful of standards. All proceeds go to Day's longtime cause, animal welfare.

Doris has devoted herself to promoting the well-being of animals with the Doris Day Animal Foundation, which she created in 1978 and which is the new album's beneficiary. Her own pets, including some half-dozen cats, have it good: She built a glass-ceiling extension off her house so the felines can enjoy the view without the risks of going outside.

Why the attention to animals? "They're the most perfect things on Earth," Day replied. "They're loyal. They love you. And they'll never forget you. ... I think they're put here for us to learn what love is all about." [more...]

Thursday, November 17, 2011

An "American Masters" presentation, "Woody Allen: A Documentary" is a two-part, three-and-a-half-hour feast for all Woody fans and anyone else who is interested in a prolific, persistent artist's creative world. It airs Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. EST on PBS.

The film revisits Allen's childhood in the Midwood section of Brooklyn and his first venture as a professional writer: supplying jokes to columnists and comics while still in high school. It covers his growing success in the 1950s and 1960s as a comedy writer for TV, then as a rising standup comic in his own right.

You will see his typewriter, the Olympia portable Woody Allen has used for pounding out everything he's written since his teens. [more...]

Welcome to The Mystic Artist Blog

My name is Sandy Frazier and I am the author of "The Mystic Artist" (book) - a book I spent many years writing and researching. My purpose here is to expand upon my book and bring forth more insight into many of the topics of my book, as well as to offer commentary on today's cultural/art scene.

At my Web site, I post book reviews, I have a store with many of the products I recommend, as well as links to wonderful books, music, DVDs, gifts and art to inspire. For visual fine artists, I also offer a page of art links.

Listen to my original songs on my music page. To view my art, please visit my galleries... and I've got lots of original photography on Flickr. Check out my Facebook page.

In this blog, I'll be reflecting on my art as well as covering the cultural scene - in the world of art, music, movies, books, literature and more. I hope you enjoy my blog and find it inspiring and informative!